Homework
by KaramelKarma
Summary: (Inspired by the line in "The Wedding of River Song" where the Doctor says something about how he could "Help Rose Tyler with her homework.") Post TATM. The Doctor is having trouble moving on from the Ponds, so the TARDIS takes him on a surprise trip. But who is that young blonde girl, and why does she look so familiar?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. It is in Moffat's cold, cruel, genius hands.**

The Doctor had been floating aimlessly through the vortex for about a month. River had left, the Ponds were gone, and he was alone. All alone in the vast, huge universe that seemed to enjoy taking the people he loved away from him. He'd been spending time occasionally sitting in Rory and Amy's bedroom (even though he'd preferred it with the bunk beds) or in the library, but mostly just in the console room, feeling lost. Which was exactly what he'd been doing when the TARDIS gave a huge jolt as she began landing - without the Doctor having touched anything.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" he shouted crossly, grabbing the rail to hold on to as he was almost thrown across the console room. The TARDIS, of course, didn't answer, but instead stopped moving as she landed. The Doctor sighed, pulled on his coat, and headed outside to take a look.

The TARDIS had parked herself behind a nondescript dumpster. The air was crisp, chilly, and grey. He was definitely on Earth, the Doctor reasoned, and it looked like London in the... Late 20th century? Yes, that seemed right. The Doctor moved from behind the dumpster and saw a playground that looked as though it had seen better days. It was deserted except for a family of four and a young, blonde girl sitting on a bench. The wind was biting, so the Doctor pulled his tweed coat around himself tighter and strolled towards the playground.

"There doesn't seem to be anything special about this time and place," he mumbled to himself. "Why would the old girl send me _here?_" Nonetheless, he wandered over to the wooden park bench where the little girl was sitting. He felt inexplicably drawn to her.

Getting closer, the Doctor saw that she was working on third-grade level multiplication problems, tongue between her teeth and concentration written across her face. "Carry the four, there," he told her. She looked up, startled.

"What?" she asked.

"The four," he answered. "I told you to carry it. You forgot, and that's going to throw off the entire problem." The blonde girl looked down at her math problem and realized he was right. She frowned, and with her pencil she hastily added in a small number four.

"Thanks," she said begrudgingly. "I would've noticed in a few moments anyway though."

"Quite right," he said. "Mind if I sit here?" The girl shrugged. The Doctor took this as a yes and sat down on the bench next to her. Glancing quickly at the date on the girl's math paper, he saw that it was mid October, 1994. He frowned. He couldn't figure out why the TARDIS had sent him to this random date and location. He watched the two children play on the play structure, and eventually let his eyes drift to their parents, sitting together happily on another bench. The mother had red hair which reminded the Doctor painfully of Amy. Beautiful Amelia Pond.

"You look sad. What's wrong?" inquired his bench-mate, her voice breaking through the Doctor's miserable recollections. He looked at her and saw that she had stopped working on her multiplication and was instead looking up at him with curious eyes.

"What? Nothing's wrong. You're an awfully nosy thing. What's your name, anyway?" he asked. There was something oddly familiar about the girl that left him feeling shaken.

"I'm not 'sposed to give strangers my name," she informed him crossly. "I'm not even 'sposed to talk to strangers at all, I don't think."

"Very true," the Doctor agreed, amused. "But, you see, you are a stranger to me, yet I'm talking to you. I've already broken my end of that rule, so we might as well break it all the way. Do it properly. Rules are meant to be broken, but a half-broken rule is no fun at all." The girl laughed.

"Alright, I'm Rose," she said, looking up at this strange man whom she now thought was actually quite funny. The Doctor blinked and stared at her in shock.

"Really?" he asked incredulously. "Is it really now?"

"Yes," Rose answered, puzzled. The Doctor shook his head in wonder. Of course. If this was 1994, she would be about eight. Looking in to those splendid greeny-brown eyes, he knew at once that it was definitely her. Rose Tyler. This was the girl he'd lost, 11 years before he entered her life. Here she sat in her purple jumper, just an innocent child, unknowing all the danger and excitement the future held for her.

"The old girl must have done this on purpose," he said to himself out loud. "Some trick to make me feel better or something? Well, it's not working. Reminding me of the past isn't going to make me forget the present!" he yelled in the TARDIS' direction.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Rose.

"No one," the Doctor answered shortly. He felt bitter, old regrets that hadn't seen the light of day for years resurfacing.

"It wasn't no one, it was someone, you just don't want to tell me," Rose decided. The Doctor gave a sad half-smile.

"You're pretty clever, you know," he told her. Rose beamed.

"Thanks. I got a ninety-eight on my last History test."

"Very good," The Doctor said, his smile a bit bigger now. They were in comfortable silence for a few more minutes until he spoke again. "Where's your mum, anyway?"

"In the shop over there," Rose said, pointing across the street. "I get bored in those shops, so she sent me to sit here and do my homework." The Doctor nodded. The shops were all for clothing, he couldn't blame an eight year old for being disinterested in there. Rose then plucked up the courage to ask him a question. "What's _your_ name?" He smiled sadly.

"I can't tell you yet," he said. "Someday you'll find out."

"How? How do you know?" Rose set her pencil down and scooted closer to the Doctor, her eyes gleaming with a look of wonder and curiosity that he knew all too well.

"Well, I'm pretty clever too," he told her, tapping the end of her nose. Rose giggled.

"Okay. But who are you?"

"I'm... A traveler of sorts," the Doctor said carefully. It was important not to give Rose too much information. He couldn't risk messing up her timeline. If he could get away with doing _that_, he'd have already scooped little Rose up in his arms and taken her into the TARDIS, whisking the child away to exotic planets and times just to watch her face light up and watch her grow. "But I've stopped travelling for a little while."

"Why?"

"I lost some very good friends. Important friends who I cared about."

"Is that why you're sad?"

"Yes,"

"Oh." Rose was quiet, then she slipped her small hand into his. He looked down, surprised, as she squeezed his hand.

"Don't worry," she told him. "Everything gets better. That's what my mummy says. Even when things are sad and gloomy, you have to keep going because eventually everything will get good again." The Doctor blinked back tears at both her words and her touch and squeezed her hand back.

"That's very good advice, Rose," he whispered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said happily. Just then, Rose saw a woman crossing the street.

"That's my mum," she told him, pointing. "I have to go now."

"Alright," the Doctor said. He was about to stand up and leave, not wanting to have to deal with Jackie Tyler, when suddenly he stopped.

"Rose, I want you to listen to me for a moment," he said. Rose nodded and gave him her full attention, looking into his eyes. "You are going to have a wonderful life. You're going to grow up to be a clever - even more clever than you are now - witty, resourceful, beautiful, sweet, brave woman. Your life will be filled with amazing adventures you'll enjoy very much, but not without sadness. You're going to need the sadness so you know to appreciate the good times. You'll have a -" the Doctor paused, then gave a bittersweet smile. "- a fantastic life. Absolutely fantastic. But I need you to promise me one thing."

"What is it?" Rose whispered, looking absolutely enchanted.

"Have fun," the Doctor said. "Have so much fun, Rose." The young blonde nodded solemnly.

"I will," she promised. A huge grin split the Time Lord's face, eyes shining with tears made up of many mixed emotions.

"Wonderful!" he cried, almost choking on the lump in his throat. "Simply wonderful, thank you. Now, I enjoyed our chat, but I really must be off. Goodbye, Rose Tyler." And with that, the Doctor leapt up from the park bench, his smile competing for room on his face with his tears, and sauntered off around the corner, leaving the bewildered young blonde to wonder how that funny, strange, sad, brilliant man had known her last name.

**Thanks for reading! Ah, I wasn't able to get this exactly like I wanted, but I hope you enjoyed anyway. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Bye :)**


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